What's on YOUR shelf?

Tag: Book Giveaway

Spring is around the corner, and it’s got us feeling itchy! Not, like, with a rash. (Gross.) No, I mean we’re itching for a break from winter, a break from our everyday schedules, a little trip… or maybe a big adventure!

In that spirit, we thought it was time for a Triple Travel Book Giveaway! We’ve got three prize packs that will transport you out of your regular life — to another country, another time, or another world.

On the other hand, hello to seeing your friends every day. Hello to new beginnings. Hello to your favorite clubs and sports. And hello, Kidsmomo sweepstakes!

To celebrate the start of a new school year (or to soften the blow, depending on how you look at it), we’re hosting a Back-to-School Book Giveaway! With this new pack of books in your bag, you’re sure to be the envy of all your friends, frenemies, actual enemies, and most importantly, your crushes! Well, maybe not… But we’ve still got a big pack of awesome books to give away!

Imagine you’re living with your grandmother for the summer — but she’s not the awesome kind of grandma who bakes you cookies every day and always wants to give you hugs and presents. No, you have to live with a grandmother who wants you to behave “properly” all the time and even give up your favorite activities (like skateboarding) if she doesn’t deem them acceptable.

If you’re anything like AJ, the main character in The Classy Crooks Club by Alison Cherry, then that sounds like just about the worst summer ever. And at the beginning, it is. But then AJ discovers something shocking about her grandmother and the other elderly women who come to visit on a regular basis: They’re actually a heist club, intent on “liberating” other people’s possessions for their own motives.

The Classy Crooks Club is a really fun read. Overall, it’s a light-hearted caper with some definite suspense. But besides AJ’s training as a thief — ahem, “liberator” — there’s also a storyline about AJ’s misunderstandings with her best friend, which we can all identify with. In other words: something for everyone!

And if you think this book could be for you, then you’re in luck because the author is offering a signed copy for one lucky Kidsmomo reader! Just enter the book giveaway below — but first, check out our Q&A with the author herself:

We’ve read books where kids organize heists, but we’ve never seen a story about a group of old ladies who run a heist club — until now! Where did you get the idea for this book?I often get ideas for books that have way too many moving parts and need to be split in half or don’t have nearly enough content and need to be combined. This book was an example of the first. My original idea was to write an epistolary novel between a girl at sleepaway camp and her best friend, who was living with her super-strict grandma for the summer and having a horrible time. I spent a weekend with some friends as that idea was percolating, and when someone said the words “old lady” and “pirate” in the same sentence, I suddenly thought, oh my god, what if the strict grandmother were a pirate?? But that didn’t seem quite right — I couldn’t see her on a ship — so I ended up making her a thief on dry land instead. That new twist gave me so many ideas for the grandmother story that I abandoned the epistolary plan altogether, and the sleepaway camp story became its own book. It’s called WILLOWS VS. WOLVERINES, and it comes out next year!

If you were going to “liberate” an item from someone else’s possession, what would it be?If my living arrangements were equipped for such a thing, I would steal a platypus to keep as a pet. But I’m pretty sure a platypus wouldn’t be very happy in my Brooklyn apartment, so I’d steal a painting from a museum instead — maybe Van Gogh’s “Wheatfield with Cypresses,” or Toulouse-Lautrec’s “The Bed,” or Girodet’s “Endymion.” It would be such a delight to wake up every day and see them on my walls…

We have to ask: In the book, AJ has a fear of birds based on a traumatic run-in with a swan as a child. Did anything similar happen to you?Nope! I actually like birds a lot, including swans — The Trumpet of the Swan was my favorite book as a kid. My only traumatic childhood run-in that still affects me today was with the movie E.T. I saw it when I was in kindergarten, and it terrified me so much that I still picture the scary scenes in great detail, despite not having seen it in almost 30 years. I guarantee I will never watch it again.

Enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Classy Crooks Club by Alison Cherry!

Most people don’t enjoy going to the dentist, but it has to be done. Having your teeth checked by a professional is very important for your health, and your dentist just wants the best for you.

But what if there was real reason to be genuinely afraid of your dentist?

As you might have guessed from the title — in Demon Dentist by David Walliams, the new dentist in Alfie’s town is seriously creepy. Miss Root insists that children call her “Mummy,” and the toothpaste she passes out is deadly toxic. This is bad news for Alfie, who loves sweets and hasn’t gone to the dentist in years.

Even though Miss Root might send shivers down your spine, this book is actually hilarious. There are lots of laugh-out-loud moments, like when…

Alfie finds himself the target of a highmedium speed chase from a moped.

Someone eats too many coffee-flavored sweets, leading to some intense tummy rumbling and an uncomfortable dash to the toilet.

And much, much more!

One of my favorite parts of the book are the illustrations by Tony Ross. The ludicrous humor of the story combined with the drawings will remind readers of the legendary pairing of Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, which is not a bad comparison to have!

Demon Dentist has been available for a while in other countries, but now it’s finally available in the United States! If you’ve read it, leave a comment below — and if not, enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win a SIGNED copy and more!

Back when we started Kidsmomo, our very first book giveaway was for The Boneshaker, the chilling tale of a girl who suspects there’s something amiss with a traveling medicine show that arrives in her town. (If you haven’t read it yet and you like a good creepy story, definitely check it out.)

Well, now we’re partnering with the same author for another sweepstakes. This time, author Kate Milford is offering signed copies of her two latest books: Greenglass House and Bluecrowne!

(Scroll down for the handy-dandy entry form!)

Greenglass House is a perfect read for the holiday season because it takes place in the days leading up to Christmas. Lots of wonderful descriptions of hot chocolate and baked treats. But also, it’s a quiet but gripping mystery — think The Westing Game set in a snow-nestled inn. Usually the hotel is empty around Christmas, but this year a bunch of brand new guests all arrive on the same night. When people’s belongings start to go missing, it’s up to to Milo (whose parents own Greenglass House) and Meddy (the cook’s daughter) to get to the bottom of the peculiar connections that bring these strangers to the inn.

Bluecrowne is set in a totally different time and place than Greenglass House, but it’s kind of related. But we’ll let Kate Milford herself explain! As part of our giveaway, she agreed to answer some of our questions:

Some readers may be new to the stories that connect Greenglass House with Bluecrowne and your other books. What would you say to those new readers?

Kate: That’s a great question. Let me first explain the connection between Greenglass House and Bluecrowne, because they have a special relationship. Greenglass House is set in an inn in the city of Nagspeake that’s described as looking as though it had been cobbled together from pieces of a dozen different houses in a dozen different cities. Later in the book, Milo is told that the original family for whom the house was built never lived in it. Bluecrowne is the story of that family, and why they didn’t stay. It’s also the big connector between Greenglass House and the rest of my books — primarily to The Broken Lands and The Left-Handed Fate, which comes out in 2016. But I think it’s entirely possible for someone to read The Boneshaker and The Broken Lands and not have a clue how Greenglass House is connected to them — but that wouldn’t disrupt their reading at all, because each book was written to stand alone. There’s no “right” order to read them in, either. I look at those little connections as Easter eggs — they’re there if you look for them, but you don’t have to. (For the nerds who love to find connections, though, there are lots to find!)

Greenglass House is a delightful book to read at any time of year, but it’s a special joy to read it now, during the winter holiday season. But the Christmas timing doesn’t seem completely pivotal to the plot of the book. What made you decide to set the book around the holidays?

Kate: Well, you’re right in that I didn’t set out to exactly write a “Christmas book,” but I definitely did want to write a winter book. I love winter, always have, and Christmas was and remains a big deal in my family — a lot of the traditions of Milo’s family are lifted from my own. When I made the decision to set this book in winter, it just made sense to me to set Greenglass House in the days leading up to Christmas, particularly since it goes a long way toward making things as completely inconvenient for Milo as possible.

In Greenglass House, Milo and Meddy play a role-playing game called Odd Trails. If you were playing, what kind of character would you be?

Kate: Oh, man. So I have limited RPG experience, but I like to play rogues, which in Odd Trails would translate to blackjacks. I like tricksters, which is maybe something you can tell if you’ve read The Boneshaker or The Broken Lands. Right now I’m in the middle of a D&D game with my husband and some friends, and I’m playing a rogue, but she’s a really bad rogue. Like, really ineffectual, I mean, and not because I decided to make her that way. I just have really bad luck with this character. In tabletop games, you decide what your’e going to do and then you roll dice to determine how successful you are. I just consistently roll so poorly. There was a memorable instance a couple weeks ago when my poor rogue walked into a rake, Wyle E. Coyote style. On the other hand, in real life I actually can pick locks, sort of, and while I am clumsy as all get-out, I have never actually walked into a rake.

Yesterday probably seemed like a normal day to most people. Just another Tuesday. But most people don’t know anything and anything because yesterday was actually a momentous day: the official release of The Blood of Olympus!

That’s right! The final book in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series is finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will the crew of the Argo II defeat Gaea? Can the war between Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood be stopped? Will the gods recover from their split personality disorder? And after all they’ve been through, will Percy and Annabeth finally get to live happily ever after?

WE DON’T KNOW!!!

Also, did Karen or Nancy guess correctly in their Death Predictions for the book? (Karen guessed Nico; Nancy guessed Frank.)

AGAIN, WE DON’T KNOW!!! We haven’t read the book yet!

And since it just came out yesterday, we’re guessing you haven’t read it yet either. But we can help with that…

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN…

A HARDCOVER COPY OF THE BLOOD OF OLYMPUS!

A CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-SHIRT*

A CAMP JUPITER T-SHIRT!*

A SET OF KIDSMOMO BOOKMARKS

* T-shirts previously worn only to model for Kidsmomo photos. After showering and being squeaky clean! We swear!

Have you ever traveled to Digitopolis, Dictionopolis, or the Mountains of Ignorance? Have you perchance ever met a Humbug or a watchdog named Tock? Or maybe you’ve eaten your words, or perhaps sampled some Subtraction Stew?

If you’re nodding your head right now, then that means you’re part of an ever-growing club where all the members greet each other like long-lost family — even if they’re total strangers. That’s because the club is people who have read and loved The Phantom Tollbooth, written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer, and we are all united in our fierce devotion to the book.

(If you haven’t read the book yet, don’t worry — you can enter our sweepstakes below for a chance to win your own autographed copy!)

Recently, we attended an event put on by some extra dedicated members of the unofficial Phantom Tollboth fan club — who just happen to be famous authors! They gathered at McNally Jackson bookstore in New York, took on roles from the book, and performed a scene from the story.

Check out their rendition of eating a square meal (in this case, what appeared to be construction paper cut into squares):

Here’s the full cast of characters:

Sophie Blackall (Ivy and Bean illustrator) – Officer Short Shrift

Matthew Cody (Powerless author) – King Azaz

Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm author) – the Earl of Essence

Claire Legrand (The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls author) – the Spelling Bee

Kekla Magoon (Camo Girl author) – the Humbug

Kate Milford (The Boneshaker author) – the Undersecretary of Understanding

Mary Thompson (Escape From the Pipe Men! author) – the Duke of Definition

Barbara Marcus, President/Publisher of Random House Children’s Books

After the performance all the authors answered questions from the audience,and some editors from Random House (the publishers of The Phantom Tollbooth) divulged behind-the-scenes info about how the book came to be.

For example, did you know that Norton Juster wrote The Phantom Tollbooth as a form of procrastination because he didn’t want to work on a different nonfiction book that he was getting paid to write? And guess what — he never did end up finishing that other book!

(For another fun behind-the-scenes story about the books origins, check out this Kidsmomo post from a few years ago.)

We wish you all could have been there with us for this one-of-a-kind event. But since we unfortunately don’t possess the power to transport people through space and time, instead we’ll just offer the next best thing: a book giveaway!

ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A COPY OF THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, AUTOGRAPHED BY NORTON JUSTER!

The new school year may be right around the corner, but don’t let that ruin the rest of your summer!

We know you’ve got a very busy schedule doing important things like eating popsicles and hanging out by the pool, so we’ll cut right to the chase:

It’s time for an End of Summer Sweepstakes! In other words, FREE BOOKS, people! Enter below for a chance to win our prize pack.

And if you want even more chances to win book prizes, we’ve got good news for you: We’re taking part in a Giveaway Hop — which means that a bunch of websites about kids’ books are all hosting their own book sweeps at the same time! (Thanks to Mother Daughter Book Reviews and Youth Literature Reviews blogs for organizing!)

NOTE: You guys can enter our sweepstakes yourselves, but a lot of the other Giveaway Hop sweepstakes are not specifically for kids. However, they are ALL related to books for kids, so please grab a parent and check out these sweeps together!

And also leave a comment and let us know: What are YOU reading right now, over your summer vacation?

A few days ago, we posted about the 2013 Newbery Award winners — aka only the mildly, slightly BEST BOOKS EVER of last year!

Well, we have some awesome news (because we are awesome): If you’ve been dying to get your hands on those award-garnering bad boys since the winners were announced, now’s your chance! We’ve got a prize pack featuring all four books!

ONE BIG WINNER WILL RECEIVE A NEWBERY PRIZE PACK!

• A copy of 2013 Newbery Medal winner, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

A couple weeks ago, we shared an exclusive video from Raina Telgemeier, the super-awesome-amazing-rock-star author/artist behind the new book DRAMA. And we also announced a totally-majorly-cool-can’t-miss sweepstakes where the winner gets an autographed copy of the book and an original illustration by Raina Telgemeier herself!Well, the DRAMA continues today with another author exclusive: a Q&A with Raina Telgemeier! Read on to find out how she spent her spare time in high school, her favorite thing to draw, and more:

DRAMA is about putting on a school musical. Did you work on stage crew or act in plays growing up? Did you base any parts of the book on your real life experiences?

I never did stage crew, but I did some acting in middle school and sang in the chorus in all of my school musicals in high school. It was really fun!

I had my hands in a bunch of other fun creative stuff, too: Besides drawing comics for my school paper, I was the Art Commissioner of the Student Activities Board — a fancy title for a student government position where my job was to make posters, fliers, tickets, and so forth for school events. I also loved making costumes, although I have no skills with needle and thread — I made Halloween costumes using found clothing at second hand stores, big papier mâché masks, wigs, make-up… in college I made friends with real costume designers, and my costumes during those years were excellent! (Before you ask: Queen Amidala; Jessie the Cowgirl; Rogue from the X-Men; and Strawberry Shortcake.)

All of this filtered into DRAMA. Working on a giant, multi-faceted project with a group of people is challenging and rewarding, and there are always stories to tell afterward!

You previously illustrated the graphic novel versions of The Baby-sitter’s Club books. If you could do the graphic novel version of any other book, movie, TV show, play, song, etc., what would it be?

My favorite pieces of art and literature tend to work perfectly in their original mediums (for example, how could you adapt Pee-wee’s Big Adventure into anything other than the film it is?), but that’s not to say it wouldn’t be fun to try! Maybe a graphic novel version of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Or the Ramona books. Anything with lots of kids would be a blast to draw.

I once drew a short comic called Small Steps that was an adaptation of the song Monochrome by The Sundays. It’s about the first spacewalk. Music is a big inspiration for me, although it’s not always quite that literal.

What’s your favorite thing to draw?

Kids in action! I love to draw them running around, jumping over things, playing, dancing… maybe I was an animator in a past life. Or maybe I just read so much Calvin and Hobbes growing up, that I wanted to draw kids that looked like they were having that much fun, too!

And that’s the scoop, right from Raina! You can definitely get a sense of how much energy, excitement, and (of course) drama she brings to the new book — but nothing compares to actually reading DRAMA yourself! So go out and get yourself a copy, or enter our sweepstakes below for a chance to win!